Expanding and guiding apparatus



Dec. 22, 1936-. p, A SPERRY l l l 2,064,993

EXPANDING AND GUIDING APPARATUS Filed Oct, 18, 1934 fav/IA IN/V EN TOR.

lawns,

A TTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 22, 1936 UNITED STATES PATE T OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to an apparatus for handling Webs of materialparticularly in cloth finishing processes, and has for one of itsobjects the provision of an apparatus whereby a single unit may be madeto both stretch and guide a web of material passing therethrough.

Another object of the invention is the provision of automatic means formoving expanding bars whereby these bars may be used for guiding a webof material passing through them.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means for movingboth ends of a set of a plurality of bars in order to minimize theamount of movement necessary to accomplish a guiding action bymanipulation of the bars.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a web guider whichwill turn out doubled-in edges of the web.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, as will be more fully described, andparticularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. l is an elevation showing a face View of my apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof with theA cloth omitted;

Fig. 3 is a` horizontal sectional view through one of the bars;

..0` Fig. 4 is a sectional view through the cylinder and piston foroperating one of the supporting posts to which the bars are connected;

Fig. 5 is a sectional View through the control valve;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view through the control.

valve at right angles to the showing of Figure 5 and illustrating thefeeler member as contacting therewith for movement thereof.

In the handling of webs of material such as are frequent in clothfinishing processes, an expander consisting of several bentor curvedbars is used for stretching the cloth widthwise and taking out any foldsfrom the edges thereof while a guider comprising a separate unit is usedfor directing the cloth into certain machinery for processing. Myapparatus combines the function of an expander and a guider in a singleunit by manipulating the curved bars of the expander so that they serveto guide the cloth in the direction of travel which it is desired thesame shall take; and I arrange to manipulate these expander bars inresponse to a feeler member so positioned as to be engaged and moved bythe edge of the traveling web when in engagement with the f eeler andexerting a certain amount of friction thereon whereby to operate acontrolling mechanism for accomplishing this manipulation; and thefollowing is a more detailed description of the present embodiment ofthis invention, illustrating the preferred means 5 by which theseadvantageous results may beaccomplished:

With reference to the drawing, I0 designates the base or standards l lwhich extend vertically upwardly and are secured together by a suitable10 I beam l2. Together these standards and their connecting braces serveas supports for the manipulating mechanism which I use. A post I4 isvertically slidably mounted in guides l5 and I6 upon one standard l I,while a similar 15' post l? is slidably mounted in guides IB and I9V onthe other standard H. A series of expander bars 2G, 2l and 22 aremounted upon and extend between the posts le and Il, each being pivotedas at 23 to the post Hl and resting upon a suit- 26: able projectionsuch as a pin 24 extending through the post Il, which pin may beprovided with a roller or other anti-friction means if desired, so thatas one post moves to a different elevation than the other, each of thebars will swing about its pivot 23 and slide longitudinally of itselfalong or with reference to the pin 24.

The expander bars are curved downwardly in a Vertical plane in a knownmanner, as illustrated in the drawing, so that portions at either sideof the center extend substantially at an angle to each other from thecenter, and as a web of material tends to run at right angles to thelongitudinal axis of a bar or roll with which it contacts, the oppositeedges of the material 35'. tend to move apart to expand it to such anextent that should any folds or creases occur these will be stretchedout of the material while passing between these bars. I have here shownthree bars so that the cloth passes over two and under 401 one, but theexact number of bars is immaterial so long as the cloth is caused tofrictionally contact therewith sufficiently to cause the expandingaction.

Each of these bars is provided with a rubber 45- Sleeve 25 which has aplurality of graphite bushings 26 driven therein to contact with thebar, there being about a sixteenth of an inch clearance between thebushing and the bar so` that an easy rolling contact is provided as the50: cloth turns the sleeve which rotates on the bar.

Each end of the bar is provided with a mounti ing member 27 which isbifurcated as at 28 to extend along opposite sides of the post l@ whereit is pivoted by a pin 23 passing through the 55` vtrolled by Valve 58.

opposite ears and the post. The opposite end member 29 is similarlyconstructed and extends along the sides of the bar l1, but at this endit rests upon a projection or pin 24 provided with opposite heads 30 andwhich pins may or may not turn in the bar I1 or be provided withantifriction means.

The web of material 3| is passed over the bars 29 and 22 and beneath thebar 2l and as the centers of, these bars are all in alignment or in` thesame-plane, this weaving of the web through the bars will cause it tofirmly contact all of these bars as it is drawn over them. The web,4

may extend about a guide roll 32 suitably mounted on shaft 33 supportedin bearings 34 mounted upon the standard Il, and from this point extendsto the machine where it is to be` processed or to a packaging apparatustowhi;ch

it is to be delivered.

In order that the expander may also serve asY a guider, I have arrangedto move the'guide bars; 20,, 2l `and 22 which are curved downwardly inavertical plane so as to perform this guiding actionand for this purposeI have illustrated compressed air actuated cylinders 35 and 36 whichareV of identical construction, although electric or other means may beused;- In Figure 4, Ihave shown one of these cylindersincludingga'cylindricaflshell 31 with a piston 38 and piston rod 39therein, which piston rod through a suitable bracket 49 is connected tothe movable post I4v so ythat as-the piston 38 is raised to movethe rod39 Vthe post I4 will also be raised in response thereto. The bottom 4Iof this cylinder isprovided with a threaded opening 4i. to which thepressure pipe leads. The actuating cylinder `36'is of 'duplicateconstruction and is similarly connected to the postv l1.

A controlvalve designated generally 44, see Figures 5 and 6, consists ofa casing 45 having threfnolts 46, 41 and 49;l Arplunger 49 is equippedwith heads 59 and 5I which may obstructcertain of the ports while thespace betweenA the heads may serve to direct the flow of'airfrom themiddle port to another port, as desired;r This slide is weighted as at52 so as to fall by, gravity-when no pressure is exerted thereon bytheairand is unsupported by a feeler 53;-whch is pivoted at 54 andbifurcated at 55 .to receive the marginal edge of the work or web surethrough the hose. 5lto the middle port 41' of the control valve. Aconnecting hose 65 connects the port 46 with the tube 59 on theopposite. side. of the obstruction 62 so that pressure may beconveyedffrom the port 46 through the hose 65"through tube 59 and'thenthrough hose 66fto the opening 42 at the bottom of the cylinder 35.''Ihe port 48 is connected by hose`i1 directly tothe opening 42'in thebottom of cylinder 36. y

The operation of the mechanism is as follows:

When a web of cloth is running in its desired path of travel, there willbe just sufficient friction or contact on the feeler 53 to balance theweight of the plunger 49, and the air pressure which is delivered toport 41 will exert a balanced eiect on the plunger by there being equalareas on the heads 50 and 5l with which it contacts. Consequently, anypressure of air will not tend to move the plunger 49. Assuming that thiscloth should tend to travel to the right, as viewed in Figure 1, itwould then exert a greater pressure on the feeler finger 53 and, drag itdownwardly, it being understood thatv the cloth is traveling down, asshown in Figure 1.V rIhis will swing the feeler 53 about its pivot 54and force the plunger 49 upwardly, thereby uncovering theport'48iandpermitting the ports 41 and 46 to be connected through thespace 68 between the heads 50 and 5i. Thus, the. compressed air willenter, port 41 andlbe forced out through port 46 and through conduit 65,tube 59, and hose 66 so asv tol raise the piston in cylinder 35, whileat thesame-time any air which might be trapped between the piston andcylinder 36 would be permitted to escape throughl hose 61, through ,port

48 and out through the vent 19 in the valve casn ing so that thisApiston will be lowered in the cylinder-36, while the piston in theopposite cylinder will be raised. This willcause the' desired tilting ofthe bars tof cause the cloth tot move towards the left or nearer to itsdesired straight line of travel, and as this occurs, the feelerA theslide so that the ports 41 and 48 would'be connected and the port 46would be uncovered, in which Vcase the air pressure coming through port41 will be directed through port 49and through the hose 61`-to thebottom oi the cylinder 35 beneath its piston and cause'thatjpiston toraise, while the the same time permitting exhaustof the cylinder 35through the hose connection 66, tube 59, hose connection 65 throughr theport 46 and out through theY vent openings 1I in the top of the valvecasing, thusthere would be a raising of the post l1 and a lowering ofthe post I4 until the cloth again engages the feeler finger withsufcient friction to drag it downwardly and push up theplunger 49, andthis action would occur back and forth until an equilibrium wereestablished and the cloth restored to traveling in its desired directioncentrally of the guide and expanding bars above described.

The foregoing description is directed solely towards the constructionillustrated, but I desire it to be understood that I reserve theprivilege of resorting toy all the mechanical changes to which thedevice is susceptible, the invention beingdefined and limited only bythe terms of the appended claim.

Iclaim: ,Y In an'apparatus for handling Webs of material, a plurality ofbars for contactingthe web of material for expanding the same, and meansfor moving all of Vsaid bars forguiding the direc; tion of travel ofsaid web ofjmaterial, saidv means comprising at one end a movablesupporting post to which all of said bars are pivoted, and a movablesupporting post at the other end provided with projections on whichtheother ends of Said bars rest Yfor sliding movement thereon.

PAUL A. SPERRY.

